Wire Ingestion by a Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus Chick on San Pedro Mártir Island, Mexico

Authors

Alberto Piña-Ortiz, Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus Liebig University GiessenFollow
Vladislav Marcuk
Salvador Gómez-Hernández
José Alfredo Castillo-Guerrero
Petra Quillfeldt

Abstract

We report the ingestion of wire by a Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus chick at San Pedro Mártir Island, Gulf of California, Mexico. A scat sample collected from a four- to five-week-old chick contained a copper wire ~5.0 mm in length. Biologging revealed the previous foraging trips by one of the parents, and we ascertained the diet of birds in this colony through a molecular approach. From these data, we suggest why this individual was fed wire.

DOI

http://doi.org/10.5038/2074-1235.53.1.1615

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Recommended Citation

Piña-Ortiz, Alberto; Marcuk, Vladislav; Gómez-Hernández, Salvador; Castillo-Guerrero, José Alfredo; and Quillfeldt, Petra (2025) "Wire Ingestion by a Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus Chick on San Pedro Mártir Island, Mexico," Marine Ornithology: Vol. 53 : Iss. 1 , Article 12.
http://doi.org/10.5038/2074-1235.53.1.1615
Available at: https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/marine_ornithology/vol53/iss1/12